On a recent snowy morning in Derby, Letourneau accompanied a reporter up to the hill near his home, pointing out along the way a large “Trump 2024” flag he had strung up nearby. Along the road at the foot of the hill, he has a large white and red sign telling state and federal law enforcement to “beware” and stay off of his land.

But he does allow the government to lease a slice of that land to operate a surveillance tower, a deal Letourneau said he signed off on because he thinks the tower is an important tool for local U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. He said he’s heard for years about those same agents arresting people who attempt to enter the U.S. on the road that runs along the hill and, at points, parallels the Canadian border.

“We need something they can work with to catch those aliens,” he said, referring to people who cross the border without authorization. “They’re coming right and left.”

    • clockwork_octopus@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      I wonder if people who are in the US illegally are crossing the Canadian border so they can travel internationally. Considering the extreme restrictions put in place by the US and zero path to citizenship, seems to me that if I were in that position and I wanted to visit home for example, the only way I could do that would be to fly in and out of Canada.

  • WeUnite@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    It’s so weird that conservative talk radio for many years had conspiracies about how the government will violate everyone’s rights and now it’s happening and they are blind to it or accepting it because they think the person doing it is on their side. Remember the FEMA camps conspiracy theory? Where are those people now?

  • thesohoriots@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    He’s awfully sure that tower points towards Canada, and not at the guy who put up signs threatening the Feds in his driveway.

    • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      18 hours ago

      I’ll give him some credit, he got the government to pay him for the privilege of surveiling him; that’s better than most of us have gotten.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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      1 day ago

      Eh, they point to Canada. Securing that border is an impossible task but according to official Border Patrol data the Canadian border in that area is a growing problem as a result of Canada’s changes to their e-Visa system.

  • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 days ago

    Authoritarians know people will want to escape, so “the border” issue is dual-purpose. It’s to get numbskulls to join in a dumbass plan to get rid of “undesirables” while not realizing these borders go two ways, and when things get so bad that we’re trying to sneak into other countries… it won’t be the other countries trying to stop us.

    They know people will try to escape their fascism, that’s why step one is to make it harder to escape.

    Leia was wrong, the tighter Vader gripped, the more star systems were crushed in his palm.

    • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
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      1 day ago

      My first thought was absolutely “they’re getting ready to keep people in.”

      Only a matter of time before a dmz-style border fence goes up and guards are posted facing inward. I hope I’m being hyperbolic.

      • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        Only a matter of time before a dmz-style border fence goes up and guards are posted facing inward.

        The land border is over 3,000 miles long. There’s no possibility of a “DMZ-Style Border Fence” being built. Ever.

        • Num10ck@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          sentinel drones with arial drone backup are likely inevitable… but just charging and maintaining so many would take an army to keep up.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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      Anyone with two feet and a brain can walk across the US / Canadian land border. It’s over 3,000 miles long and less than a 1/4th of it is guarded. If you throw in the water border it’s over 5,500 miles!

      No one is guarding all of that. It’s not possible.

      • gst0ck@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        If Repubs could read they’d be very upset by this statement.

  • x00z@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    “We need something they can work with to catch those aliens,” he said

    Using the word “aliens” for immigrants is so extremely degrading. Damn.

    • CTDummy@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Aren’t immigrants different to “aliens”?? Immigrants, you know, immigrated. Aliens are people who are citizens of another country still and not in a given country legally from my limited understanding.